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progressive metal

Progressive metal is in a rough period right now. The old guard are either releasing sub-standard albums that only make it more obvious how far they have fallen, or they are drastically uncool with anyone who didn't become a fan when progressive metal was first being created. Progressive today tends to mean djent, a style that has sapped all the life and humanity out of music, turning metal into a math equation of time signatures, and not songs that anyone can actually remember.

Recently, I was embroiled in a debate over the nature of progressive metal. What was at the heart of the discussion was the old schism between prog and Prog, a distinction that has never been fully sorted out. When spoken, and without the capitalization made apparent, we could be talking about music that either attempts to circumvent traditional structures by exploring musical boundaries, or music that is fully dedicated to playing technically challenging material. Both claim the mantle of progressive, but my mind can only legitimately give the title to one of them.

Progressive metal is a splinter genre where you don’t see a lot of DIY, at least not on a noticeable level or on this side of the Pond. New Jersey progressive metallers Gyre are forging into that territory with a four-song EP “Second Circle,” that attempts to fresh take on a long developed idea.

Getting their start in 1995, Norwegian band Divided Multitude is coming up on twenty years in the music business, but “Feed on Your Misery” represents just their fourth album in that time. With all the pressure surrounding Progressive Metal artists, however, it’s hard to blame them.

Right now may be the best time since the heyday of the 70's to be a progressive band. Not since the anything-goes days of yore has the scene been filled with so many bands willing to step outside the box, and so many fans wanting to take the journey with them. Everything from classic prog rock, to the technical wizardry of progressive metal, to the brazen attitude of progressive death and black metal, everywhere we look is filled with bands no longer content to play within the confines of the typical.

The path a band takes is rarely a straight line. Detours pop up that throw into upheaval whatever momentum can be gained, making a career as much a test of endurance as it is a measure of the quality of work produced. It would be nice to think circumstances that fall out of our control wouldn't have such an impact on where life takes us, but we are not given that luxury. Bands are subject to the whims of fate as much as anyone else, and while some are blessed with good timing, others find themselves stuck with the blackest kind of luck.

Fates Warning has earned a spot on the Mount Rushmore of progressive metal. Embracing the spirit of progression perhaps more than any other band of their ilk, Fates Warning has continually pushed the boundaries of what progressive metal can be, as well as the boundaries of who they are as a band. Though not as dramatic or publicized as the shifts in sound and style bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden have undergone, the continued evolution of Fates Warning is a hallmark in true progressiveness.

Gather round, fans of Fates Warning! Jim Matheos and former vocalist John Arch have put together a six-cut record of entirely new progressive metal material under the banner of brand new side project Arch/Matheos. "Sympathetic Resonance" lies somewhere between EP and full album, and was rendered from material that Matheos had written with preconceptions of another Fates Warning album. The musician goes on to say that he and Arch began working the songs one at a time, never really intending a full-length debut, but arriving at that destination in time.